Chapter 158: Wuthering Waves Official Destroys Them Instantly

Korogi felt as though his entire body had been hollowed out, pressing his hands against his knees as he panted heavily.

When a Dynamis-bearer transforms to engage in battle, their physical form temporarily undergoes an evolutionary transformation into an Ultraman.

Fighting in person, rather than operating like a pilot inside a giant mecha such as a host body, naturally places a much higher demand on physical stamina.

Consequently, if one sustains injuries while in the Ultraman state, those injuries will synchronize back to the bearer upon de-transformation.

However, the Ultra skin possesses extremely high defensive capabilities.

Only injuries that pierce the Ultra skin and cause light particles to bleed out will result in the bearer suffering actual physical wounds and bleeding.

Under normal circumstances, it merely results in physical exhaustion.

Although he lacked the healing properties of the Stone Wing, Jojo possessed the restorative power of the Ripple.

As for mere physical fatigue, there was no need to resort to the Ripple for recovery; after all, if there were no negative consequences whatsoever, a bearer would likely throw their life away recklessly.

Take Minju Sentry, for instance—even upon learning that his lifespan could be extended, he would still fight as if his life meant nothing.

In Minju Sentry's view, he was not going to live much longer anyway; eliminating one Space Beast meant breaking even, while eliminating two meant a profit. Now knowing that he could live longer, he would have to eliminate a whole horde to truly make it worthwhile.

After catching his breath, Korogi looked down at the Evoltruster in his hand.

"How is it that when Jojo de-transformed, he looked as though he hadn't expended any energy at all?"

With Pedleon's destruction, the light shimmering on the scabbard ceased.

"Am I just too weak? Before Jojo suffered his injuries, exactly how strong was he?"

Korogi had been completely taken in by the tall tales Qiao Zhe had spun.

He was likely so thrilled by the power of transforming into a giant that he subconsciously overlooked certain details.

Had Korogi taken even a moment to carefully recall how effortlessly and calmly Qiao Zhe had wielded his power when leading him to Himiya Jun, he would have noticed something was amiss.

If he had allegedly suffered severe injuries, why was he still wielding his power so smoothly?

Yet even if Korogi were to discover the anomaly, Qiao Zhe could easily brush it off by claiming he was merely trying to temper him, hence the deliberate facade of being completely fine.

Qiao Zhe only needed to act like Captain Moroboshi, while Korogi and the others were left with a mountain of considerations.

Three Chested fighter jets touched down nearby.

Nagi Saijyo hurried over, and upon seeing Korogi's exhausted state, she immediately stepped forward to support him. "Are you injured?"

Recalling the battle between the silver giant and the Space Beast just moments ago, it seemed the giant had never even been targeted by an attack. So what on earth was going on with Korogi?

Being able to dodge Pedleon's attacks was entirely thanks to Jojo fighting alongside him; otherwise, Korogi would likely have been thoroughly humiliated just now.

Looking back at every battle between Nexus and the Space Beasts, none of them were without their moments of defeat, and the strength Korogi displayed after transforming was merely equivalent to Nexus's Juvenile Form.

Once he unlocked his own special form, he was able to gain the upper hand, but the energy consumption skyrocketed—which was why Korogi hadn't used it from the start.

Supported by Nagi Saijyo, he felt that this arduous battle was well worth it. "Nagi, are you worried about me?"

The two of them were now well aware of each other's feelings.

However, Nagi Saijyo remained somewhat prideful, and upon hearing this, she flushed with embarrassment and snapped, "I hope you drop dead from exhaustion! You always have to show off!"

With Zagi, their common enemy, gone, Nagi Saijyo still harbored a desire to eradicate the Space Beasts, but she was gradually returning to a normal state of mind.

Himiya Jun gazed at Korogi, lost in thought as he pondered whether possessing that transformation device was the key to unlocking the latent power within the human body.

He clearly had not forgotten what Qiao Zhe had said.

The members of the Night Raiders were all extraordinary, possessing unusual abilities hidden deep within their bodies.

To be frank, Himiya Jun also yearned for such power, though not for his own sake, but rather to help annihilate the Space Beasts.

Shiori and Takano bickered as they approached.

"I told you I should have been the one piloting. Look, we crashed on our very first sortie."

Shiori puffed out her cheeks in deep dissatisfaction.

Takano refused to accept the blame. "The Space Beast was targeting Chest Four; I already tried to evade it, but what can you do when you're the one being hunted?"

"Besides, you were sitting right there in the copilot seat. Why didn't you help steer?"

"You were the one who insisted on flying!" Shiori turned her head to glare at Takano.

The two of them were clearly bickering adversaries who refused to give an inch to one another.

"All right, that's enough!" Yuto Kirasawa watched them with a headache, then shifted his gaze to Nagi Saijyo and Korogi, suddenly feeling an overwhelming sense of fatigue.

"Mission accomplished, return to base!"

Chest Four was obviously no longer airworthy, and Yuto Kirasawa radioed Wakura to dispatch a recovery team to secure the site.

Night Raiders Command Room.

The footage of Pedleon's defeat was likewise being broadcasted back onto the main screen. Shiwara Sara cast a curious glance toward Qiao Zhe. "That must have been your power, right?"

She had witnessed the execution of the Core Gauge, and naturally remembered such a familiar technique.

"That was Korogi's power," Qiao Zhe replied, his expression entirely unchanged.

He chose to ignore Shiwara Sara's skeptical gaze. "Light is a bond. Someone will always inherit it and make it shine once more."

"Passing on the power of light—that is the only thing I can do right now."

As he spoke, Qiao Zhe wore a solemn expression, looking every bit like a man dedicated to the welfare of the Earth.

Shiwara Sara looked at him with lingering suspicion, her heart a turmoil of doubt and uncertainty.

*Could it be that I misjudged him? Is he actually a man of upright character?*

Because of what Zagi had previously uttered, Shiwara Sara remained somewhat on guard against Qiao Zhe.

She had suspected him of being a womanizer, constantly maintaining her vigilance in his presence.

When she was first assigned here by her superiors, she had even feared she was walking straight into the lion's den.

She had heard tales of certain individuals who presented themselves as refined gentlemen in public, yet harbored the most bizarre fetishes behind closed doors.

They were said to be particularly obsessed with widows, female subordinates, and the like.

Shiwara Sara had braced herself for Qiao Zhe to harbor some eccentric vices, steeling her resolve to resist him no matter what, but things now seemed far less dire than she had imagined.

Human perception was a strange thing; a bad person doing a single good deed would invariably be remembered.

Qiao Zhe could hardly be classified as a bad person, but in Shiwara Sara's estimation, he had undoubtedly cut the figure of a scoundrel from the very beginning.

Had Qiao Zhe known her train of thought, he would likely have been left covered in question marks.

At that moment, Wakura walked over. "The Memory Police are already handling the civilians at the scene."

Hearing this, Qiao Zhe frowned slightly. While this was a necessary evil, keeping things operating this way was ultimately unsustainable.

He turned his gaze to Shiwara Sara. "Hand over a copy of your research data. I'm taking it to another world to have someone study it."

The progress here was simply too slow. He wondered if those jellyfish-like Visitors were actually contributing any effort at all.

They were capable of manufacturing so many specialized anti-Space Beast weapons, yet the development of the Space Beast vaccine was dragging on at a glacial pace.

"You can travel to other worlds?" Shiwara Sara wore a peculiar expression.

If Qiao Zhe could transform into an Ultraman, using an Ultraman's abilities to achieve such a feat wouldn't be particularly startling, but wasn't he supposedly incapable of transforming anymore?

And this was what you called suffering severe injuries?